Taking Kunqu Opera as the first batch of "representative works of human oral and intangible heritage" published by UNESCO on May 18, 2001 as a symbol, the protection of intangible cultural heritage in China's modern sense has gone through more than 20 years. With the deepening understanding of protection practice, on November 4, 2008, UNESCO changed the original name of "human oral and intangible heritage" to "human intangible cultural heritage" when publishing the list of the fourth batch of representative works. From the beginning, people felt that these two names were difficult to pronounce and inappropriate. Today, they are more familiar with the term "intangible cultural heritage", and gradually more generally referred to the term "intangible cultural heritage" as "intangible heritage". "Intangible cultural heritage" and "intangible cultural heritage protection" have actually become professional terms. This fully shows that the protection of intangible cultural heritage in contemporary society has a wide recognition that has never been before, as well as people's appreciation of excellent traditional culture and enthusiasm to consciously participate in the protection with cultural self-confidence.

The Chinese nation has always had a good tradition of protecting cultural heritage, as exemplified by the collection and transmission of folk ballads and the lyrics of Zhengsheng Yayue and Zongmiao Sacrificial Dance in the Book of Songs. Scholars of all dynasties have also recorded a large number of things, such as the types of people's livelihood and the skills of hundreds of workers, which also has profound implications for us to understand the situation and value of objects described today as "intangible cultural heritage". For example, Kang Youwei said in his "Guangyi Boat Double Boats": "For example, the poems about women traveling in the Yangtze and Han Dynasties, the songs and proverbs about children in the Han and Wei Dynasties, can contain ancient elegance, which is beyond the reach of later scholars." Xu Qin of the Qing Dynasty also said in his "Preface to the Ming Paintings": "There is a formula for playing zither and chess, but no one can play it. What is the secret of playing zither? The beauty of playing zither lies in the touch between the fingers of the string and the sound of the drum, which can't be passed on. How is it different to wake up and talk about a dream after pushing the scales to gather the pieces?" The intangible skills and cultural implications of playing zither and chess are more important than the visible zither and chess pieces. The recognition of predecessors still has a very good inspiration for our protection of intangible cultural heritage today. However, the establishment of an intangible cultural heritage protection system based on the national overall cultural development strategy will become a reality only when people have more cultural confidence in the recognition of intangible cultural heritage today.

What is intangible cultural heritage? Although today's concept of intangible cultural heritage has become more and more clear, it is still common for some people to take only the physical and visible forms as the whole of intangible cultural heritage projects. For example, the advertisements we see often include "China's intangible cultural heritage ×× Wine ". Such statements often make us ignore the essence of intangible cultural heritage. In fact, the brewing technology of wine and the cultural implication of the technology are the core of intangible cultural heritage. This phenomenon is not an exception. Therefore, the protection of intangible cultural heritage should adhere to the principle of scientific protection. Today, we still need to correctly understand intangible cultural heritage and its protection from its basic concept, presentation, inheritance rules, protection principles and methods, and how to recognize the value and significance of intangible cultural heritage. In this way, our protection work can be in line with the law, targeted and effective. Otherwise, it will get twice the result with half the effort and even cause damage to the intangible cultural heritage. Fortunately, today's practice of intangible cultural heritage protection has provided relatively rich experience in scientific protection. In addition to the theoretical workers' summary of these experiences, inheritors of intangible cultural heritage at all levels should also summarize and explain their experience and thinking in combination with their own inheritance process. Their experience is the most practical, fresh and persuasive. Intangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage inheritors cannot be separated. The protection of intangible cultural heritage inheritors is the core of intangible cultural heritage protection. Respect for the inheritance (including inheritance, continuation and re-creation) subject status of inheritors and respect for the innovation of inheritors on the basis of inheritance is one of the most important propositions of intangible cultural heritage protection and theoretical research. When we talk about the value of intangible cultural heritage, most of the time we are talking about its common value, and the emotional memory and spiritual attachment of individuals generated by the inheritors, communities and groups of intangible cultural heritage holders based on the project are more personalized and unique. This kind of cultural emotional memory, which contains human wisdom and spiritual blood, is more distinct and unique because of its individuality. It has the unique significance of promoting the exchange of human values in a certain period and a certain cultural region. We should cherish the common value it embodies and respect its unique value based on individual feelings. Only in this way can we truly respect the dominant position of holders of intangible cultural heritage projects (inheritors, communities and groups) in the identification, inheritance and enjoyment of corresponding rights and interests of the project, including their right to speak in the protection and management of intangible cultural heritage. With such a principle, the protection of intangible cultural heritage can be healthy and sustainable, and our theoretical research can be more practical.

I participated in the protection of intangible cultural heritage from the very beginning. This led to the book "Research on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage" published by the Culture and Arts Press in May 2013. With the continuous development of the practice of intangible cultural heritage protection, people's understanding of intangible cultural heritage and its protection is also deepening. Many new experiences and problems need to be summarized and summarized in theory. Therefore, in the past seven or eight years, I still think about some new issues in the protection of intangible cultural heritage in combination with the development of the protection of intangible cultural heritage, and have published some new articles. Although these articles were written at the invitation of newspapers and colleagues, or for participation in seminars and lectures, they were not entertainment works, and all expressed my targeted views on the basic or new issues of subjectivity in the protection of intangible cultural heritage. It is believed that these views and the issues raised in the book can serve as a basis for further discussion by colleagues engaged in the theoretical research of intangible cultural heritage protection. Just last year, Comrade Yang Bin, the president of the Culture and Arts Publishing House, proposed to include the Research on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the reprint of the press's Series of Theories and Methods for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and I am pleased to agree. In addition to the articles published by me, the book also contains the interviews and reports of some media reporters and my proposals on the protection of intangible cultural heritage at the CPPCC National Conference. The reporter's articles in the media reports accurately expressed my thoughts; Some of the proposals were put forward by me alone, and some were put forward jointly by me as the main sponsor with the consent of the relevant CPPCC members (such as Mei Baojiu, Li Shiji, Ye Shaolan, Zhu Legeng, Zhu Shihui, etc.). I would like to express my gratitude to these friends.

This book is one of the "Series of Theories and Methods for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage", which mainly presents the summary and in-depth and systematic thinking of researcher Wang Wen on the protection methods of intangible cultural heritage in the past ten years, including more than 40 articles, 7 proposals related to the CPPCC National Conference, and 8 media interview records.

Wang Wenwen, researcher, doctoral supervisor. Deputy Director of the Jingkun Office of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Consultant of the National Committee of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO, Honorary Director of the Wu Guanzhong Art Research Center of Tsinghua University, and Director of the Advisory Committee on the Selection of Stamps of the National Post Office. He has served as a distinguished professor of Peking University, China University of Political Science and Law, Southeast University, Shandong University, Russia's Liebin Academy of Fine Arts and other universities, the president and chief editor of the Chinese Culture Newspaper, the director of the Art Department of the Ministry of Culture, the president and secretary of the Party Committee of the Chinese Academy of Arts and the director of the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, the vice minister of the Ministry of Culture and the president of the Chinese Academy of Arts and the director of the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, the 11th CPPCC National Committee Member of the 12th National Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council. He is the author of "Commentary on the Contemporary Nature of Art", "Huizhen Collection", etc., and the editor in chief of "Kunqu Opera Art Festival", "Mei Lanfang's Beijing Opera Atlas", "Introduction to Intangible Cultural Heritage", "Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Series", "Encyclopedia of China (the third edition) Drama", "Dictionary of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage", etc., and has won the China Publishing Government Award of the General Administration of Press and Publication, the Ministry of Culture and Arts Innovation Award The first prize of the National Cultural News Award of the Ministry of Culture and the first prize of the Higher Education Teaching Achievement Award of the Beijing Municipal People's Government.